Happiness
by Poison Frost
Summary: "Every person that is born in this world is given Happiness." A "What If" story on the final events of RoaFV going on the topic that "There doesn't need to be a sacrifice for everyone to be happy"
1. Chapter 1: Possibilities, that is all

"And there is honestly no alternative to this plan?" Bridgette exclaimed once Strauss had finished his explanation on the events to come.

"As much I would like to guarantee my success in the coming battles, I cannot ignore the high possibility of my death in the battle against the Black Swan. You've seen the results of our previous battles, she is much stronger than me and will most likely win in our final showdown."

Despite the melancholic topic Strauss showed little to no emotion, staring blankly at the moon and the harbingers of war hidden behind it. He had said his plans to Bridgette and Adelheid, but no matter how many times he had said the predicted outcome, neither could accept it. Even he himself struggled to come to terms with the fact that in a days time he would have to leave this earth and the troubles of his race would be left at the hands of his daughters.

"I also think we should look into alternate means of ending this conflict." Adelheid stood, taking the spotlight despite her inclusive trait. "There are still ways that we can save Kayuki AND keep you alive Strauss. Saberhagen may have been a genius in terms of curses and seals, but she did not create the Black Swan, she merely called it out. If this is the truth, then can we not say there are traits and abilities even SHE does not know the Black Swan has?"

Strauss shook his head at Adelheid's proposition, "As much as I'd like to believe such a thing exists, you must remember that it was Saberhagen that drew out the Black Swan. If there WAS such a way to resolve the situation without bloodshed, leaving both me and the host alive, she would have counteracted it."

"But you must also see that Saberhagen was a mother, and like any mother, they would not seal away their daughters completely." Strauss flinched at Adelheid's words, only momentarily losing his mind to the possibility, but he was quick in regaining his composure.

"Again, as much as I'd like to believe the possibility, it is simply non-existent. We will continue tomorrow as planned and leave the outcome of the coming battle to the will of that girl." Standing up Strauss signaled the end of their conversation, closing the door behind him without making a sound. Adelheid looked longingly at the door, hoping Strauss would burst through it with tears in his eyes begging for a chance to save her and Kayuki, but she knew this possibility had ended once Strauss had been put in the shoes of the main character. Sighing, Adelheid rose from her seat and looked to Bridgette to see her still sitting in her chair, her head in her hand, deep in thought.

"There are still possibilities. Saberhagen was a mysterious person, however she was not void of feelings. Even the emotionless monster that Strauss has become has his holes in his mask. If that can be called a consistent trait, then we can also assume that Saberhagen herself had a break in her mask as well. Which would mean that somewhere she has hidden the final secret of the Black Swan." Standing up to look out the window, Bridgette continued to mull over the idea. Taking this as her queue to leave, Adelheid began to make her way to the door, but before she could fully open the door Bridgette called out to her.

"Sister, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What would you have of me, older sister?"

"I need to you take me to the last place Saberhagen had lived in."

"I'm sorry but I don't have that information."

"But I do…"

Strauss stood on the balcony of the launch station, looking at the moon longingly. There hanging in the sky was the last hope for his race, the last hope of them ever being able to continue their existence without conflict with the humans. Even so, he could not help but feel a fleeting sense of sorrow. Tomorrow he would see yet another wife die and he could do little to avoid it, on top of that his own life would come to an end and he would abandon his race to the flow of the universe. Strauss shook his head. He could not fall to these feelings; they were of the moment and are meaningless in the battles to come. He had to face the next day without a doubt in his heart; else he would regret it for the rest of eternity. Leaving the balcony, Strauss retreated to his room, letting sleep conquer his body in hopes that the extra hours would bring his body to its peak.

As the moon climbed in the sky, Strauss exited his room, fully dressed and geared for the coming battles. As he made his way to the roof he met up with Adelheid, who had also dawned a suit of armor, completed with a black cape similar to Strauss'.

"Are you ready?"

"I've waited all my life for this, this chance to make a difference in the flow of the world. Also, this will be my last moment with you. I want to look my best so that I have the image of a beautiful, kind woman in your heart."

Strauss chuckled, "You will always be a beautiful, kind woman in my heart; you've been one since the beginning."

Blushing Adelheid held out her hand, wrapping her fingers around Strauss'

"Since this is the final time I'll be able to stand by your side, please forgive me if I get a little selfish." Adelheid whispered, lowering her head out of embarrassment.

"Be as selfish as you wish to be, my queen." Strauss whispered back, tightening his grip on her hand.

One more moment of silence between the two and they were off into the sky disappearing from the human eye. Not moments later a large explosion erupted in the sky, signaling that Strauss and Adelheid had been successful in their endeavor.

Strauss stood looking back at the earth, his cape cold still in the air-less space. Smiling at the beauty of the world, he turned to face Adelheid. Her cape had been damaged when she had released her corrosion powers, but her body itself had suffered nothing of the sort. It was a testament to the power pureblooded vampires held.

"I guess this is it, huh?"

"Yes, with this our race can live on in hope without need for fear of conflicts." Even as he said these hopeful things, Strauss could not help but furrow his brow in thought. What if this was the wrong decision? What if there WAS a way to save everyone and eliminate all need for sacrifice?

"Akabara…"

"What is wrong?"

"Go…I do not wish for you to see me when I begin to die, I won't be able to leave my beautiful image in your heart if you see me in my final moments."

"I said it before 'you will always be beautiful to me, because that's how you always been'"

"Then, if you had never met Stella, would you have fallen in love with me?" Adelheid said turning to him, tears in her eyes.

Strauss hesitated for a moment, before smiling, "If that had been the world we lived in, then yes, I would have gladly fallen in love with you." Adelheid turned away from him, a single tear dropping from her cheek. Strauss didn't say a word; he simply turned away and flew back to earth. As he flew back a large explosion erupted on the face of the moon and at that moment he knew, Adelheid had died.


	2. Chapter 2: Happiness You Deserve

Pulling back his wings, Strauss landed softly on the deck of ship, facing Kayuki with an emotionless face. The two stood there for a moment before Kayuki threw out Narutsuki.

"With this sword, the fight is no longer decided. Your chances have now risen above zero, disqualifying my Black Swan abilities as deciding factor. I hope you will fight with all you have as will I."

"May we fight at our peaks and let no doubt grip our being."

At this the two super-beings clashed, the amount of power causing the metal deck to ripple. The two jumped back and then clashed again, jumped, and then clashed. The constant contact of magic on anti-magic soon had the very air around them disintegrating. Finally they pulled back, taking in the damage each had suffered. Strauss had lost an arm in the most recent clash, but Kayuki had taken a clean cut down the left side of her shoulder, nearly cleaving off right left arm. Even so she stood as if she had suffered no damage at all. Giving no time for Strauss to regain any lost energy, Kayuki dashed towards him, breaking the sound barrier and placing her hand directly on his stomach, before blowing a whole through his abdomen. But Strauss did not flinch; he did not even grimace at the pain, because he had already decided the fate of the battle. As his body fell backwards and Kayuki took up the space he had previously occupied, a glint of light flashed in the sky. Falling from the atmosphere, Narutsuki sped down at blinding speed, burying itself, hilt-deep, into Kayuki's shoulder. Blood splashed onto the deck of the ship and the loud thud of Kayuki's body slamming onto metal resonated through the entire ship and seemed to echo in Strauss' head. He had done it again, killed another Black Swan, another reincarnation of his dear beloved. Standing up despite his dire injuries, Strauss walked up to the dying body of his age-old nemesis. Her breathing was shallow, but she was not yet dead, however her body was too damaged to continue to fight, the battle had been decided.

"You forced yourself to get hit by that didn't you?"

"There always need to be a loser, and I cannot allow you to take that role this time."

"So you knowingly force me to push on through hell again? You wish for me to continue to be the sinful king that I am, despite my wish for release?"

"It would be too sad to make you suffer again, yes. However, to take away life from someone who has had nearly no experience with it is another cruelty. Your happiness was stolen from you unfairly; your life has been led in a way that I can see only as cruel. It is for that reason that I have decided my fate as such." At this Kayuki reached into her pocket and pulled out a bottle attached to a string. "In here is a certain potion made by my foremother, Saberhagen. Bridgette retrieved it and only she knows the effects of it. I will give it to you and give you the chance to decide something for yourself."

"How am I supposed to decide what to do with it if I don't even have a starting point?"

"I guess I will give you a single bit of information to make this decision easier. Saberhagen said this when she gave it to Bridgette, 'I have always regretted releasing a hell on a man that no one should have to experience. What makes it even worse is his willingness to accept such a sorrowful life without a bat of an eye. If I had a single chance to make his life just a little bit more endurable, I'd do it and here it is.'"

Strauss looked at the small bottle in his hand, "I will be dying soon, so it would be good to make your decision quickly." Taking out the stop on the bottle, Strauss slowly put a single drop into Kayuki's mouth. In that instant, the entire spirit of the Black Swan seemed to jump out of Kayuki's body, it's limitless form spinning and swimming through the air like a snake. At last the fiery bird stood before Strauss. The giant bird then began to slowly reduce in size. It shrank from an elephant-sized ostrich, to a human-sized chicken, finally to a baby chick. Then, seemingly from nowhere Stella stepped out and picked up the small baby chick, kissing it on the cheek and transforming it into a small baby girl. Strauss could only look on in disbelief as he faced his lover after having killed her 50 times.

"How can you…be here?"

"Mother may have been cruel, but she was not heartless. As she had changed her view on Darphims she slowly changed her view of you. You may have been a person that everyone hated, but that does not mean you yourself were a hateful person." She placed the small child in Strauss' arms before continuing, "Everyone that is given life, is given a chance at happiness. Some have to work harder than others, and some have to sacrifice everything to find it, but they will all be happy in the end." Stella lovingly rubbed the young child's head and kissed her one last time on the forehead before heading back into the empty abyss that had opened before her.

"I have already been given my happiness. In fact more than I've been due. I've been able to see you way past my human lifespan. Though each time I had to experience pain, it was worth the time I was given with you. That's why this time I want you to be happy." Strauss could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, but he blinked them away.

"Then…I will live happily, for the three of us, for me, for you, and for our child."

Stella turned around and simply nodded, wearing her warmest smile and then she was gone. Strauss looked down at the young girl in his arms. She was fast asleep, dreaming some unknown dream, but she clung to his clothes like a baby to her mother; her warmth almost alien to his body.

"There is still one drop left isn't there? That means there is still one person that can be saved."

"But…who?"

"I'm sure you know the answer to that question already."

"…I won't let you die."

"I won't, the Black Swan has left my body, but I will not die. Bridgette had given me body-enhancing drugs that would keep my body from fully shutting down should I suffer mortal wounds during our fight, plus…." At that Bridgette emerged from her hiding place, a first aid kit and a handful of doctors with her. "She has also prepared for a favorable aftermath."

Walking up to Kayuki's side, Bridgette began to channel magic into Kayuki's broken limbs and torn skin, healing most of her wounds within moments. "We'll take care of her, so you should head on to her side."

Nodding Strauss turned to face the moon. Spreading out his wings and preparing a barrier around the child, Strauss sped into the sky towards his destination; the moon.

Landing in the crater Adelheid created through her world-scale terraform, Strauss looked on to the center of the city-sized hole; there a small patch of flowers had already begun to grow. Taking the last drop of the potion, Strauss dripped it on the center of the flower patch. As the small drop soaked into the soil, the flowers suddenly began to bloom, growing to abnormal size, then began to shrink and die before slowly turning to ash. However, in their place laid a woman dressed in royal armor and a black cape wrapped around her figure. Adelheid slowly opened her eyes before looking up into Strauss' face, hovering above her own.

"Why…?"

"Every person deserves happiness, some just have to work a little harder."

Adelheid burst into tears, falling into Strauss' embrace. She cried out his name and he answered her every time. The queen and king sat there in each other's arms after having been separated for over one thousand years.

"This child is…"

"Yes, she is my first-born daughter as well as Stella's only child."

"She is very beautiful…what will you name her?"

"Since she carries her mother's warmth I would think it is fitting to hold her mother's beauty as well."

"I see…" at that Strauss and Adelheid smiled to each other before turning to the baby and calling out her name in the gentlest voice a parent could muster

**_"Wake up, Stella…"_**


End file.
